Talent Acquisition is changing. Over the last few years a plethora of new technologies have entered the market looking to automate and optimise all parts of the process.

In the last 12 months, much of this disruptive focus has been on the recruitment marketing element of Talent Acquisition. There are now numerous recruitment marketing platforms on the market offering variations on the marketing automation services that have proved popular and effective in other industries. For the most part these innovations should be welcomed, the level of sophistication in recruitment marketing has lagged behind that found in other marketing disciplines for decades and it is good to see things moving forward.

While recruitment marketing platforms promise much, there will deliver nothing however if talent acquisition leaders don’t pay attention to what has swiftly become the biggest issue facing recruitment marketing, the talent attention crisis.

We live in an age of digital noise and distraction. The rise of mobile devices sees us connected constantly where ever we are and the fire hose of social media is bombarding us with a stream of information so intense that focusing our attention properly on anything can be a struggle. Current methods of talent attraction are often adding to the noise by spamming poorly written job adverts into social media and bombarding potential candidates with untargeted and unwanted messages via LinkedIn.With an increasing amount of this advertising and speculative outreach being ignored, many recruiters are turning up the volume and pumping out even more noise which is just causing larger numbers of potential hires to switch off. Short term attention grabbing gimmicks may work initially but in the long run have the potential to do more harm than good and alienate audiences even further.

There is a huge danger that the new recruitment marketing technologies will just add to this noise and make things even worse unless talent acquisition leaders have the right strategy in place.The Employers effectively cutting through this cacophony of noise are doing so by working long term to build trusted employer brands that people can’t help but take notice of. They are properly researching the needs of their target audiences of talent and are carefully targeting them with the right messages. In world dominated by technology, empathising the human factor is critical and marketing based on the use of authentic employee stories is proving be particularly effective. These stories are even more effective when they are properly backed up with persuasive messaging that sells both the employer and the opportunity to the potential candidate.

Measurement is also critical here. Response rates, social media metrics and careers site analytics are essential in understand just how and where the talent attention crisis is affecting each individual employer.

It is important to remember that recruitment marketing platforms are just tools and not the answer in themselves. They have the equal power to improve talent acquisition or to damage its effectiveness even further. To utilize them successfully talent acquisition leaders will need to ensure they fully understand the importance of talent attention, brand building and communication that can resonate in our ever noisier world.

According the latest OFCOM report, smartphones are now the UK’s most popular device for getting online. Mobile Internet usage has been growing at a rapid rate for several years now but the recent take up of 4G services has now brought us to this highly significant tipping point. Mobile is no longer an alternative access point for use when a PC and Laptop aren’t available; it is the primary route to the internet for a majority of the population.

Why is this change occurring?

It is important to realize that this isn’t just about substituting one access point for another and behaving the same way, smartphones have fundamentally changed our relationship with the internet and the mechanics of how it works forever. More than a third of people use their smartphone within five minutes of waking up. Within the 18-24-year-old age range, this number creeps up to more than half. People are spending two hours a day on average on their smartphones, which now represent a crucial digital hub for both work and play.

Unfortunately, most employers are still struggling to keep up when it comes to effectively harnessing mobile in the recruitment process. It is often viewed as difficult, expensive or just an add on in a box ticking exercise. This is an unsustainable position with an overwhelming body of evidence now underlining the vital importance of mobile in the recruitment process.

My advice? Any change in talent acquisition strategy seems to work best when it is planned and done in stages. Instant revolutions are normally not possible. With that in mind, here are some key areas to focus on:

1. Optimise your recruitment marketing content.

The first connection you have with your audience, whether it’s via a proactive message or by someone being exposed to a job post, has a high probability of reaching them via a mobile device. There is a huge amount of competition for attention on someone’s screen and it’s important to make sure that you understand the needs of your audience and are being both empathetic and interesting.

Wherever possible, step away from text. Videos and images are now the currency in the new mobile world. For years, long-form text has been the default method for recruitment marketing, so this is a big change. However, it is a good change, as visual communication is a brilliant way of getting a huge amount of information across in a limited amount of time.

2. Plan to go mobile first with your careers site.

As an industry, we need to step away from the whole idea of a mobile-enabled career site and embrace the mobile-first careers site. Mobile can’t be seen as an afterthought — it needs to drive the whole concept, design and content of the corporate careers site.

It is important to give people what they want quickly. Don’t make them search for the information that is relevant to them as they are likely to go somewhere else instead. If you can engage user attention quickly, the evidence, from the clients that I have worked with, indicates that they will actually engage with more content on the mobile site than they ever would on a desktop.

If you recruit across a number of different disciplines, an alternative approach to consider would be to build several targeted microsites rather than one big site that is a constant compromise between the needs of different audiences.

3. Put mobile apply on your roadmap.

It’s nearly 2016 — you can’t dodge this one anymore. An Indeed survey from last year found 66% of job seekers would apply via their mobile device if they were able to. This is confirmed by recent Forrester Wave research, which reports that candidates expect to be able to search and fully apply for jobs on company careers sites using their mobiles. So what can you do to improve things if you don’t currently support mobile apply?

First, review your ATS provision. Can you really afford to continue to tolerate a legacy system that is not fit for your recruiters and your potential candidates? If you’re stuck in a long-term contract with your ATS vendor, put pressure on your provider and investigate the growing number of services that offer a technical workaround for mobile apply.

While this all might seem daunting, it important to do something to improve your mobile strategy. Unfortunately, going mobile isn’t easy and requires investment, however it’s essential in the long term. Based on my experience working with employers, the benefits are also enormous and companies that have started on their mobile journey already have a huge advantage in the market.

]]>How Google Does HR DifferentlyMatt AlderSat, 07 Nov 2015 17:30:13 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/11/7/how-google-does-hr-differently50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:563e3516e4b083b17b278c3eGoogle’s approach to HR and Recruiting has always been a much discussed topic in our industry. Their tenacity in seeking out only the best of the best is legendary and their approach has scaled up in line with their rapid growth from small Silicon Valley start-up to a company with a global workforce of 55,000 people.

Google’s SVP of People Operations Laszlo Bock has recently published a book called Work Rules which gives a detailed insight into how Google has built its incredible success on the back of an innovative approach to talent.

I was lucky enough to meet Laszlo in person recently and interview him for my podcast. Although our discussion was relatively brief a very clear sense of Google’s unique approach to HR, recruitment and culture came across.

Here are some of the main points we talked about:

Why Google has “People Operations” rather than Human Resources:

Google chooses to brand its HR team as “People Operations”. Initially this was because it was felt that Human Resources was considered to be an old fashioned term by Google’s software engineering employee base. However People Operations has grown to represent a distinct data driven approach that is disrupting many traditionally held HR believes and practices. It is also a brand that a number of Google’s contemporaries have copied and People Operations departments are now becoming a common feature of the tech start up scene.

Recruitment Focused HR:

Google believes that hiring should be the single most important people activity in any organization and they spend more on recruitment than any other HR related activity by a considerable margin. Laszlo believes that if companies hire the right people in the first place then it follows that less needs to be spent on talent management and development.

Line managers shouldn’t be able to make their own recruitment decisions:

Whilst line managers are heavily involved in recruitment process at Google a hiring committee makes the final decision. The thinking here is that if the line manager’s need to fill the gap on their team as quickly as possible it could lead to a drop in quality of the person being hired. Each hire (several hundred a week globally) is also individually ratified by Google’s CEO Larry Page to ensure overall quality is maintained. Google have optimised the hiring process so well it now only takes 45 days, despite all the steps involved

The vital importance of data:

Data informs every aspect of HR at Google and there are a team of data scientists within the People Operations team. Laszlo feels that data and analytics should be an essential element of the people approach in every organisation. However he also feels that HR teams shouldn’t be ruled by data and sometimes “doing the right thing” by their people is more important. He points to Google’s exceptionally generous death in service benefit as an example of this

You can also find it by searching for “Recruiting Future” in any podcast mobile app (I recommend Overcast for iOS or Pocket Casts for Android).

]]>The Current State of Social RecruitingMatt AlderThu, 23 Apr 2015 20:57:18 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/4/23/the-current-state-of-social-recruiting50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:55395b0fe4b06b6f69e47783Social Recruiting has been around now for nearly ten years but many companies are still struggling to use social platforms for recruitment in a successful way. All of the key social media platforms have made significant changes to their functionality in the past 18 months and many employers are using approaches to social recruiting that are seriously out of date.

There are however some great examples out there of organisations using social in a strategic up to date way and benefiting from huge value in terms of branding, quality hires and cost savings.

You can also find it by searching for “Recruiting Future” in any podcast playing mobile app (I recommend Downcast for iOS or Pocket Casts for Android).

]]>How Should HR Respond to the Digital Revolution?Matt AlderWed, 15 Apr 2015 10:22:54 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/4/15/how-should-hr-respond-to-the-digital-revolution50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:552e39eae4b0c9f97dd5627bThe space where people, work and technology meet is becoming ever more fascinating and is throwing up huge issues for HR departments round organisational flexibility and change management. Lots of people seem to have an opinion on what is happening and what should be done but fewer people are actually commenting from the HR trenches on what it is like to face those issues on a daily basis.

In Episode 8 of the Recruiting Future Podcast I speak to Neil Morrison the Group HR Director at Penguin Random House UK, someone who is dealing with these challenges first hand.

You can hear us discuss:

How Penguin Random House has had to respond to the digital revolution and turned it from a threat into an opportunity.

The evolving nature of HR technology with a move from big enterprise solutions to smaller “disposable” alternatives.

The expectations of employees for a consumer grade user experience at work

Penguin Random House’s ground breaking social recruiting initiative to attract new marketing talent into their business

You can also find it by searching for “Recruiting Future” in any podcast playing mobile app (I recommend Downcast for iOS or Pocket Casts for Android).

]]>Why Content Marketing is Important for RecruitmentMatt AlderTue, 07 Apr 2015 08:31:54 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/4/7/why-content-marketing-is-important-for-recruitment50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:5523948ee4b047e0ca482b61The importance of content marketing has grown significantly in the last two years. Creating a body of relevant and effective content can help companies to recruit, to promote their employer brand and establish thought leadership. Despite the significant benefits of getting content marketing right, it is still very much under used and misunderstood in the recruiting and HR space

In the latest episode of The Recruiting Future Podcast I interview Mervyn Dinnen who is an expert in content marketing and engagement for recruitment and HR. Mervyn is helping a number of organisations with content marketing and in our interview he shares what is working for his clients and gives advice on how to get started with content marketing techniques.

You can hear us discuss:

What content marketing is, its benefits and how it can be used for recruiting, employer branding and customer engagement.

Why using job listings as content can potentially attract the wrong audience.

How Social Recruiting is changing

What formats to use when and what is working for companies using these techniques

Mervyn’s top 7 tips for producing effective content

Kittens, Puppies and Poldark!

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher alternatively find it by searching for “Recruiting Future” in any podcast playing mobile app (I recommend Downcast for iOS or Pocket Casts for Android).

]]>The Current State of In House RecruitmentMatt AlderMon, 23 Mar 2015 19:41:59 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/3/23/the-current-state-of-in-house-recruitment50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:55106b5fe4b0ce165ed6314eGetting an unbiased view on what the real issues are in the in-house recruitment market can be tough. There are lots of opinions out there but ultimately not very many people with a genuine helicopter view. For Episode 6 of the Recruiting Future Podcast I wanted to speak to someone who has this kind of viewpoint and Jamie Leonard from Reconverse was the perfect choice.

Reconverse is a successful boutique networking and events company for in-house recruiters that is just about to celebrate 100 round table events. Chairing these round table discussions gives Jamie a unique perspective on the industry and in the interview he gives us his take on the in house resourcing market. We discuss numerous topics in this area including recruiter skill shortages, what’s new in recruitment technology, categorization in the ATS market and a potentially terrifying game changer for established job boards!

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher or find it by searching for Recruiting Future in any podcast playing mobile app. Alternatively browse past episodes here

]]>Glassdoor and the New Transparency of Employer BrandsMatt AlderTue, 17 Mar 2015 14:09:44 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/3/17/glassdoor-and-the-new-transparency-of-employer-brands50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:550834b2e4b03274b9489a65We live in an age of social proof. The rise of review sites in almost every aspect of our lives has been incredibly rapid and making any buying decision without searching the internet for the opinion of others now seems strange to us. Within this context I’ve followed the rise of Glassdoor with real interest. It is by far the world’s largest collection of employee and interview feedback and over the last few years it has expanded operations significantly from its original base in California. Glassdoor now has a presence in the UK, Germany and France with more country launches being planned.In the latest edition of the Recruiting Future Podcast I talk to Joe Wiggins Glassdoor’s Senior European PR Manager. We discuss the reception Glassdoor has had in Europe and the types of companies whose employees are engaging with the site the most. We talk through how the transparency of Glassdoor is making companies think differently about their employer brand and Joe gives some great tips on what employers can do to ensure they are managing their reputation in the most impactful way.You can listen to the podcast below. Alternatively you can subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher or find it by searching for Recruiting Future in any podcast playing mobile app.

]]>How to Recruit in a Skill ShortageMatt AlderMon, 09 Mar 2015 08:27:11 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/3/9/how-to-recruit-in-a-skill-shortage50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:54fd567be4b0e18a10a88ff5One thing that remains constant about recruitment is that in many business areas there is often less talent to find than there are jobs available. As economies improve and competition intensifies the problem is magnified and it is a problem that recruiters are now experiencing in multiple markets globally.

In the latest episode of the Recruiting Future Podcast I interviewed Clare Lewis of global risk advisor and insurance broker Willis. In the interview Clare talks about the innovative approaches they are taking to deal with the skill shortages in their industry. These involve such things as local outreach initiatives to enhance both the employer brand of company and industry, talent management strategies, recruitment process improvement and a sharp focus on the candidate experience.

You can play the podcast below. Alternatively you can subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher, listen on Soundcloud or find it by searching for Recruiting Future in any podcast playing mobile app.

]]>Cracking The Candidate Experience CodeMatt AlderWed, 18 Feb 2015 15:15:26 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/2/18/cracking-the-candidate-experience-code50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:54e4aae1e4b002fddcd4a24fThe candidate experience must be one of the most discussed topics in our space over the last few years. To everyone outside of recruitment the conversation must seem ridiculous, if we all agree that a good candidate experience is important then why not just do it? Recruiters everywhere know that this is much easier said than done, particularly in large complex organisations.

For Episode 3 of the Recruiting Future Podcast I was delighted to interview Bethan Davies from RMS. RMS are an organisation that have won international acclaim for their focus on a quality candidate experience and in the interview she shares some of the steps they have taken to execute on their vision in this area. We also talk about some of the great work they have being doing using video as a way of communicating their brand and how they leverage referral recruiting to identify hard to find talent.

You can play the podcast below. Alternatively you can listen on Soundcloud, subscribe on iTunes or find it by searching for Recruiting Future in any podcast playing mobile app.

]]>Launching my Recruitment Innovation PodcastMatt AlderThu, 12 Feb 2015 09:27:28 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2015/2/12/launching-my-recruitment-innovation-podcast50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:54dc5d5ae4b066babee8f142I’m delighted to announce that the first two episodes of my new Recruiting Future podcast are now live. The over arching theme of the podcast is recruitment innovation and I’m planning on releasing several interviews every month with practitioners and other thought leaders who are doing interesting things in our space. With so many theories circulating on how to improve, optimize or revolutionize all aspects of recruitment it is important that the podcast cuts through the hype and deals with the real issues companies face in terms of talent attraction and recruiting. The choice of guests will reflect this and I’m committed to finding new stories and case studies that may not have been widely seen or heard before.

For the launch episode I went back into my archives and found two very interesting interviews that I recorded some time ago but had never previously published.Firstly Peter Lovell from Jagex talks about the challenges of recruiting globally in a very difficult talent market and shares an old school approach, which Jagex has found works brilliantly for them. Following on from this Chris Hoyt from Pepsico talks predictive data analytics and mobile in a interview that was recorded at the iRecruit Expo in Amsterdam.

What I love most about podcasts is the flexibility they offer in terms of where and how you listen to them. With that in mind, I’ve made sure you can listen and subscribe to the Recruiting Future Podcast in a number of places:

The next episode will be out at some point next week and features a great discussion with Bethan Davies who is Senior Manager Talent Acquisition and Employee Engagement at RMS

]]>Three things that will give you competitive recruitment advantage with mobileMatt AlderMon, 12 Jan 2015 15:17:48 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/competitive-mobile-recruitment-advantage50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:54b3e05ee4b0a5d19b54ba36Mobile recruitment is not a fad. Mobile recruitment is not a trend. Mobile is just what recruitment is now and there is no going back.

The evidence for this is now pretty much overwhelming; a whole series of studies and reports released during 2014 underlined the huge shift in candidate behavior that has taken place. Top job aggregator Indeed announced that it hit a tipping point in March with 54% of its UK job searches coming from mobile devices. The other job boards aren’t far behind and if you don’t believe me then run Google analytics on your careers site and see for yourself just how many of your potential hires are making contact with your recruitment brand via a mobile device.

Other sectors have jumped on this new reality and changed their way of doing business to accommodate the change in behavior of their audience. According to Mintel 41% of UK internet users are using their phones to shop and the major retailers are falling over each other to make sure this business comes to then.

For some reason though most employers are behind the curve when it comes to mobile recruitment, in fact of a lot of recruiters don’t even believe a change has taken place. I was talking to an in house recruiter the other day who told me that they didn’t believe any of the stats about mobile internet ubiquity while simultaneously and unironically tapping away at LinkedIn on their phone.

I’m not sure why so many in our industry choose to ignore the seemingly obvious but rather than turn this post into yet another rant about the lack of mobile recruitment adoption, lets turn things on their head and think differently.

A recent LinkedIn survey suggests that competition for quality hires is one of the biggest issues facing companies this year and it is still the case that the majority of employers aren’t taking mobile into account when they plan their talent attraction strategies. This is fantastic news for the few who get the importance of mobile as they can use it as leverage to create a strong competitive advantage to win the best talent.

So where should you put your focus if you want use mobile to get quality talent into your business? The three key areas to focus on are your Mobile Platform, Mobile Apply and the Content you are using to engage and persuade. I’m going to write about all three areas in detail over the coming weeks but here are the top line "need to knows” for each one:

Mobile Platform (Your Career Site)

First of all don’t let anyone persuade to build an app, it’s not 2010 and mostcompanies who adopted mobile early for recruitment have moved firmly away from app based recruitment solutions.

At very least you need a careers site that fully functions on mobile devices. Your Ad Agency may well try and sell you a responsive design solution and it is important to ask as many difficult questions as you can to understand what they mean by this. I’ve seen many employers choose an approach that they think is ticking the box in terms of mobile but is actually just delivering a terrible experience.

The best way to engage your audience with a careers site is to think mobile first and design principally for mobile devices with the desktop version being just an add on. This is a big shift in thinking but is well worth doing.

Mobile Apply

It’s 2015 and you can’t dodge this one any more or use your legacy ATS as an excuse. A recent Indeed survey found 78% of job seekers would apply via their mobile device if they were able to. Unfortunately having a non mobile and difficult apply process as a filter to reduce your overall number of poorly targeted applications is counter productive. You are actually more likely to put off the highly desirable applicants who have other choices than the untargeted spammers who are determined to jump through the hoops. So what can you do to improve things?

Review your ATS provision. Can you really afford to continue to tolerate a legacy system that is not fit for purpose for your recruiters and your potential candidates?

If you are stuck in a long term contract then put pressure on your provider and investigate the growing number of services that offer a technical work around for mobile apply

Mobile Content

This is the most neglected and least discussed area of all. Mobile devices are fundamentally changing the way we interface with the web. Attention spans are shorter, distractions are a huge issue, touch has replaced keyboards and even the biggest tablet screen is a lot smaller than the average PC. So how do you engage and persuade top talent in this much changed world?

Video and images are key. For years long form text has been the default method for recruitment marketing so this is a big change. However it is a good change, visual communication is a brilliant way of getting a huge amount of information across in a limited amount of time, embrace it and properly engage with your audience

Give people what they want quickly. Don’t make them search for the information that is relevant to them as they are likely to go somewhere else instead. If you can engage user attention quickly the evidence, from the clients that I have worked with, indicates that they will actually engage with more content on the mobile site than they ever would on desktop.

The best approach if you recruit across a number of different disciplines is to build several targeted microsites rather than one big site that is a constant compromise between the needs of different audiences.

I hope this gives you a good starting point for mobile recruiting in 2015; I’ll be revisiting all of these key areas in more detail in other posts over the coming weeks and months but if you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch.

]]>Can you replace a recruiter with an algorithm?Matt AlderMon, 24 Nov 2014 13:18:12 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2014/11/24/can-you-replace-a-recruiter-with-an-algorithm50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:54732df5e4b0302c6f60b5aeIt was interesting to observe the debate that sprung up a few weeks ago when online dating giant eHarmony announced its entry into the recruitment market. A December launch has been mentioned and there is currently a holding page taking email sign ups.

The key to the debate is whether eHarmony’s legendary matching methodologies and algorithms can in some way effectively augment or even usurp the mind of an experienced recruiter. For the most part the sides of the debate fail along predictable lines with some keen technologists saying yes and a lot of experienced recruiters dismissing the whole notion as the kind of ridiculous theoretical hype they’ve been hearing for years.

My own view on this is that the debate isn’t quite as black and white as some pundits seem to think it is. First of all I do think there is an inevitability that currents trends in big data and machine learning will have a much more dramatic effect on recruitment than a lot of people imagine and I would recommend Erik Brynjofsson and Andrew McAfee’s book “The Second Machine Age” to anyone interested in what the future of work might look like. I’ve also experienced first hand just how effective eHarmony is and recently got married to the beautiful girl it quite rightly predicted was my perfect match! However I remain to be convinced that any change in recruitment will happen quickly.

Online recruitment remains ridiculously unsophisticated in comparison to the rest of the digital world and that makes it a seemingly easy target for disruptive investment. However, over the last ten years, it has proved to be almost impossible to properly disrupt online recruitment and I would argue that only LinkedIn have made any genuinely industry shifting impact in that time.

This is pretty disappointing because if there is one thing our industry is crying out for it is disruptive innovation, particularly round the area of candidate matching. Fifteen or so years ago the online recruitment revolution created a problem with application volumes for many companies that it has never properly solved. It is an issue that is so entrenched that it has actually normalized and having to sort through a large number of inappropriate applications (very often manually) is seen as part of the standard workflow of recruitment. Many established software providers claim to solve the problem but the evidence on the ground does not back this up! Despite being cited as a current big trend, improvements to the candidate experience seem to be mostly failing to take root as many recruiters fear they will be totally swamped if they “make it easier” for people to apply for jobs. The fact that we consider all of this to just be “business as usual” is insane in a world where the continuing advance of digital is changing everything around us.

So where is the innovation coming from? There are obviously a large number of start-ups out there who claim they can solve all of recruitment’s problems but what are the chances of any of them making it out of the often self-congratulatory recruitment tech echo chamber and into the mainstream? History would seem to suggest not very many will. The big players don’t seem to do much better either with somewhat half hearted recruitment initiatives from both Google and Facebook failing to make an impact in recent years.

Ultimately I think the key to change lies within the industry itself. Despite the rapid rise of LinkedIn, for the most part recruitment is still anchored round mechanics that are driven by the CV and haven’t changed in decades. The death of the CV debate is even more polarized than the algorithm debate and unfortunately I think it is holding back some of the evolution that could help make automated matching work much more effectively. No I’m not saying you should scrap formal documents and just use social data but I am saying that in a world of mobile devices the status quo will increasingly not be an option.

Above all I think I’m calling for some sensible discussion here. The “oh no it won’t” versus the “oh yes it will” debate round algorithmic advancement and the future of the CV might be fine for the pantomime season but we are desperately in need of more sophisticated deliberation if the industry is going to move forward.

]]>The Inside Story on Maersk Drilling, Facebook and RecruitmentMatt AlderMon, 01 Sep 2014 20:29:57 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2014/9/1/the-inside-story-on-maersk-drilling-facebook-and-recruitment50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:5404ce56e4b0e9cf18a589b2Last week I posted a short video which gave some insight into Maersk Drilling's excellent Social Recruiting Strategy and in particular their award winning Facebook Community. Lots of people were keen to know more so I'm delighted to be able to post this interview I recorded today with their Head of Communication, Marketing and Branding Fredrik Tukk

It really is a must listen for any employer who wants to get the most out of social recruiting.

If you don't have time to listen in one go, here are some highlights to skip to:

Start: Introduction from Fredrik detailing the background to the project and the challenges overcome

3mins: The three key factors Maersk Drilling focused on to build a relevant audience and engagement and why they never post jobs on their Facebook page

6mins: How they got the initial momentum to kick start their Facebook plan

9mins: Results, statistics and how they measure success

12mins: What's next for Maersk Drilling? Mobile and Big Data

This interview is the first part in a regular series where I'll talk to employers who are doing great things with their recruitment strategy. If you would like to take part please contact me matt@metashift.co.uk

]]>A Fantastic Social Recruiting Case StudyMatt AlderTue, 26 Aug 2014 20:51:07 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2014/8/26/a-fantastic-social-recruiting-case-study50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:53fced7de4b0e1f6ca38b9c3I've been following Maersk Drilling's excellent Facebook recruitment work ever since I met their Head of Communication, Marketing and Branding Fredrik Tukk when we were both speakers at the Onrec Conference in Denmark last year. They have recently made a video case study about their social recruiting work, it is a must watch for anyone involved in talent attraction.

A couple of weeks back I did a video interview with my very good friends at Tonic. We covered a lot of topics and the final video is quite lengthy so if you don't have time to view the whole thing, here are some highlights and the time at which they appear in video:

20 mins: Making the internal case for Social Recruiting, stakeholder buy in and ROI

24 mins: Why Facebook recruiting is tough but not impossible

27 mins: What is going to happen in recruiting in the next five years. How will tech innovation impact our space

33 mins: Some companies that are doing Social Recruiting really well

35 mins: Continuous Recruitment Marketing and persuasion

38 mins: Why you should always be curious

]]>Recruitment's Problem with PersuasionMatt AlderTue, 24 Jun 2014 13:59:00 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2014/6/24/recruitments-problem-with-persuasion50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:53a981dde4b0356c592d4613It was my great pleasure to speak at the excellent RecFest in London the other week. My presentation on “The Art of Persuasion” was inspired by some recent conversations with a number of employers who have found themselves struggling to recruit the talent they need in 2014.

Many employers are currently facing a big uplift in recruitment and some are going into a blind panic throwing money at projects that have been on ice since 2009 (new EVP, new recruitment website etc) to try and fix their problems.

I wanted to look at the root cause of the issues and think about how to actually solve them. This then lead to the realization that the biggest problem we have in 2014 is actually a persuasion problem.

I’ve produced a 20 minute webcast of my presentation which is embedded below where you can see and hear my thoughts on the problem and the potential solutions in more detail.

Here is a top line summary:

The Persuasion problem is being caused by:

The lack of any need for proactive recruiting through the recession

Technological and demographic changes which mean the old ways of doing things aren’t as successful as they used to be

The move from the "Desk Top Age" to the “Age of Mobile Devices”

The sheer amount of recruitment noise the best talent is exposed to

Generic approaches which result in a huge amount of “inappropriate” applications

The three elements of the DNA of digital persuasion are:

Be Magnetic - Attracting the right audience to your content is vital

Be Convincing - You can’t rely on the right people just wanting to work for you, you need to convince them

Convert - Even the most convincing messages often have no call to action or are attached to a broken process. Getting people into and through your recruitment funnel effectively is absolutely vital.

More details on all of this in the video. I also give an example of great persuasion at work and a simple framework to help you make your recruitment communication work harder.

I'm delighted to announce that the Metashift Video Interviewing Guide is now free to download. The guide was put together last year and is the result of 100 hours of research into the emerging Video Interviewing trend.

The report gives you the information you need to decide whether video interviewing is right for your organisation. It will allow you to plan an implementation of the technology that will achieve the full benefits of video interviewing.

The report is 100% independent and is highly employer centric being based around a major survey of in house recruiter attitudes to video interviewing, a number of face to face interviews with major organisations using the technology as well as numerous other case studies.

As well as gathering this extensive employer feedback the authors walked through detailed demos of video interviewing software from a number of key providers.

I hope you find the report valuable and that it will also act as a introduction to Metashift's work. To find out more about how we can help your organisation please contact Matt Alder

]]>Free Video Interviewing GuideRecruiting Innovation and Kurt CobainMatt AlderTue, 27 May 2014 08:49:39 +0000http://www.metashift.co.uk/blog/2014/5/27/recruiting-innovation-and-kurt-cobain50918805e4b044ecf47550c9:5179494de4b0b72526db1890:538450dee4b02461f0aedba5A few weeks back I was asked to record a promo video for the forthcoming Rec Fest event. One of the questions I had to answer was what was the best festival I’d ever attended. The answer was an easy one it was Reading 91, I was 19, it was a fantastic line up of music and it was back in the days when you could bring your own cheap beer into festivals.

The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Nirvana playing near the bottom of the bill as a more or less unknown band, just a few short weeks before the release of their game changing NeverMind album. Here’s the video, me and my friend Simon are somewhere in the front row, pretty much opposite Kurt Cobain:

The really interesting thing I noticed when I watched this video back recently was the strangely muted audience reaction to Smells Like Teen Spirit (it's about 10 minutes into the video). Three months later every student union in the land would be blasting it out every five minutes but on this particular day in late August 1991, 99% of us in the audience were hearing it for the first time. The restrained reaction shows that no matter how things were post rationalized afterwards when we were in the moment we were blissfully unaware of the revolutionary nature of what we were listening to.

So why is this relevant to recruitment? While over the last 15 years we’ve been working through a time of monumental change. The Internet was the original game changer in the early 2000s, Social Media has rocked the boat in recent years and now the exponential growth of the mobile internet is pressing the reset button on everything. Employers and Recruitment Agencies are often criticised for being slow to change and certainly, for the last few years at least, they have been playing a constant game of catch up with their target audiences. It’s clear that no one sets out to be behind the curve but sometimes it is very difficult to spot what is front of you particularly when you’re as busy as recruiters are at the moment. As my Nirvana experience shows though, it is important to take a step back sometimes to question the status quo and take in some alternative viewpoints on what is going on. There could be something revolutionary right in front of you which, if you take the time to evaluate it, will give your company a competitive advantage for years to come.

So what about my own performance as a teenage future predicting music guru? Well on extracting our sweaty selves from the densely packed crowd me and friend had a post mortem on what we had just seen. “I think they are going to be the biggest band in the world, what do you think?” said Simon. "I think they were great but I doubt we’ll ever hear of them again” I replied

One of us of course was right and the other one had obviously overindulged in the cheap beer!

I spotted it the other week in an excellent blog post from Mobile business guru Benedict Evans . More than anything else that I’ve seen it underlines that the mobile internet isn’t just another channel it is a real quantum shift to a different way of doing things.

Unfortunately that message doesn’t seem to be getting through when it comes to recruitment and I think that many employers and recruiters are still thinking about mobile in the wrong way. The one thing I hate about our industry is that for many the default position seems to be an insistence that the old ways of doing things are best and any shift in technology needs to be adapted to fit tried and tested methods rather than looking at the potential to evolve the industry itself and makes things work better.

I've been around long enough to know that change is inevitable, I remember presenting to groups of people 15 years ago (ironically when I was selling an early version of an ATS) to be told that no one would ever apply for a job using a computer. With this in mind I find it very frustrating that some very experienced people are closing their minds to the amazing possibilities of “Mobile First” recruitment.

Mobile innovation is currently being held back (like most innovation before it in the last ten years) by the fear that it doesn't fit with the ATS and mobile recruiting providers are forced to jump through hoops to provide mobile apply solutions that have to replicate the traditional way of doing things rather than using mobile as a catalyst to improve them.

Despite perceptions to the contrary, the technical barriers to mobile apply can be overcome and with some effort it is possible to present most recruitment processes in a format that works functionally on a mobile. However something being functional doesn’t make it user friendly and quality candidates are even less likely to tolerate a long winded recruitment process on a mobile than they currently do on a desktop, however technically clever it is.

What is clear from the mobile revolution happening all around us is that mobile has a genuine power to improve what has gone before. Mobile first companies like Uber, Tinder and Instagram are causing huge disruption in their markets and many existing industries are rushing to embrace mobile, creating such useful things as mobile banking, mobile payments and mobile airline check ins to name but a few.

So why aren’t we looking at things differently in the recruitment space? Integrating video screening and touch screen psychometric testing to create a “mobile first apply” is just one of thousands of possibilities that mobile technology give us and that’s before we consider the future recruitment selection possibilities of permission based access to some of the personal data footprint created and stored within our devices. Hanging onto ATS systems that refuse to adapt and closing your mind to anything that doesn’t look like recruitment from 50 years ago isn’t going to solve your resourcing problems in 2014. Isn’t it time to think differently and embrace the promise and possibilities of our mobile first world?